Wales’ scrum faltered after a promising start in Kitakyushu, with the coaches having sought clarity on a few calls
Wales coach Adam Jones has not only challenged his front-row to be better at the scrum against Japan this weekend, but also himself as they look to right the wrongs of Kitakyushu. Jones has made a series of phone calls to seek clarification around some of Wales’ issues.
The Welsh pack enjoyed some early dominance in the scrum, but that soon fell away as the Brave Blossoms ended the match firmly on top – with the front-row of Yota Kamimori, Mamoru Harada and Shuhei Takeuchi managing the extremely rare feat of playing the full 80 minutes in extreme heat and humidity. That proved costly as Wales struggled for a platform in the final quarter, letting a 19-7 lead slip to fall to an 18th consecutive Test defeat.
Attention has now turned to Kobe, with Wales’ final Test of the season providing one last chance to end the losing run before a new permanent head coach is (presumably) appointed ahead of the autumn.
Former tighthead Jones has been coaching with Wales for the second campaign in a row, having been brought in for the Six Nations by Warren Gatland on a consultancy basis prior to the Kiwi’s departure. Interim head coach Matt Sherratt then brought him back into the fold for this tour of Japan.
It’s been seven years since Jones started his coaching career after hanging up his boots, working with Harlequins since 2018 – even helping them to a Premiership title in 2021.
The former Ospreys and Cardiff prop has long been earmarked as a future international coach, but, naturally, given this is just his second campaign at Test level, he’s still learning the ropes in some regards.
“It was probably a little frustrating I didn’t pick up on what they were doing, the technique, it’s hard when you’re not in there,” said Jones about how the scrum went in Kitakyushu.
“I am learning about it’s international rugby so it’s tougher. But I guess I need to get back to the speed of being on the computer.
“With Quins I’m running the water so I haven’t really got footage as quick and as detailed as I have in the box. So I probably need to get some better messages on when I spot it.” Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for the exclusive five-week tour diary from Japan and Australia.
Last Saturday’s match was refereed by the relatively inexperienced official Damian Schneider, with two assistants in Luke Pearce and Karl Dickson who have both taken charge of Premiership finals and numerous Test matches.
Wales have sought clarification on a number of issues from last Saturday’s match, including crucial lineouts by both teams.
One early in the second-half saw Nicky Smith penalised for obstruction just as Wales were looking to open up a three-score lead, while Japan openside Jack Cornelsen got away with blocking in the build-up to Halatoa Vailea.
The scrum was another area of contention, with Wales unhappy with some first-half decisions following early signs of promise.
“I’ve had a few positive phone calls and chats with the people we need to speak to around this type of stuff, so hopefully it’ll be a bit different on the weekend,” added Jones.
“There was one penalty went against us first half where I not sure it’s a penalty, and one where we got it turned over because Toby was being held in by their number eight. That was a frustrating one but that got turned over and I’m assured they weren’t the right decisions.
“But we need to be better ourselves, more aggressive across the space and we’ll change a few bits around that and hopefully we put a better performance on the field. The first two scrums were pretty good. We could have done better, there were a few bits from them I wanted clarification on.
“We’ve got to move on. I learned as a player you can’t dwell on these things, it’s the beauty of international rugby.
“You’ve just got to get on with it and you’ve got a chance to rectify it the week after. It’s not the end of the world and we just have to, as a front row in the pack, put a little bit more detail into it and go from there.”
The fact Wales were up against the novelty of a front-row going the distance in those conditions perhaps makes it slightly more difficult to gauge in terms of mid-game course correction.
Not just for a coach, but also a referee – with it perhaps easier for officials to believe the picture isn’t changing when the personnel doesn’t.
“To be honest with you, the picture changed a fair bit throughout the game,” added Jones. “It was the loosehead’s first cap, the tighthead plays a fair bit for them.
“After 20 minutes, I wouldn’t say we were on top, but we had a decent scrum five metres out. But then two decisions went against us in that first-half and we probably didn’t react well enough to that.
“I’m pretty analytical. I look at it and move on. I won’t be ranting or raving. I’ll just make sure with the boys that we get back to what we need to do and get the process that gives us the best chance of being dominant.”
“They (Japan’s front-row) were technically good. We were bigger, as in bigger men, heavier men, but certainly across the back five of the scrum, there was a lot of weight constantly through our side the whole course of the game.
“I’ve had a few sort of positive chats now and hopefully it’ll be looked at in a different way.”
Last year, Warren Gatland spoke about the fact that, when you’re on a lengthy losing run, those 50/50 decisions start to go against you.
Whether that’s reality or just perception, it’s probably the case that you become affected more by the calls that don’t go your way – certainly as players.
“You’d have to ask them,” said Jones. “I think as a player, it can be a bit more emotional.
“But as a coach, you just have to move on. You have to pick through the game in your areas, see what the fix-ups are and try to implement them for the week.
“There’ll be more emotion on Thursday and Friday which will be massive for us. But you do really have to move on. You look through it, but otherwise you’re going round and round.
“Then it’ll be 19, 20 games. There’s no point dwelling on it too much. We know when we put play on the field, we’ll cause them problems.
“It’s being more consistent around that. We’ve got to work hard this week. It’s the last week of the season, which is always pretty tough.
“But there’s a pretty big carrot at the end of it.”
